Mavericks' Wesley Matthews will reportedly miss rest of season with stress fracture

Wesley Matthews will have a disappointing end to what has been a nice bounce back season for him

Wesley Matthews hasn't been the same player with the Mavericks that he was in Portland. This is probably related to a tear in his Achilles in 2015. That injury is difficult for anybody to come back from and it's not a coincidence that his numbers fall off after that.

However, this season, Matthews has remained fairly healthy and has had flashes of what he used to be offensively. He's not the same player, but his shooting numbers are on the rise. Unfortunately, a positive individual season for him is going to come to a disappointing end. According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, Matthews will miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his right leg.

Sources: Dallas Mavericks guard Wesley Matthews has suffered a stress fracture in his right leg and will likely miss remainder of the season. Matthews underwent further testing today and will rest and rehab the injury.

Stress fractures can have serious long term implications for a player if they're not handled properly. The 76ers got in trouble with the league in 2015 because they didn't properly disclose a stress fracture to the Pelicans when they traded Jrue Holiday to New Orleans. Those stress injuries ended up plaguing Holiday for his first few seasons in New Orleans.

The Mavericks are smart to hold out Matthews so he can get healthy. There is nothing for them to play for this season besides further increasing their chances in the lottery. No need to risk further injuring one of their players.